Las Vegas, 500 millones

A great European co-production , though mostly Spanish . Being Shot in San Francisco and Los Angeles and Splugues De Llobregrat , Barcelona , and Almeria. It deals with a big hold up carried out by a motley group . It contains International and Big name stars thanks to Warner Bros . The bunch hijacks and robs an armored lorry carrying a casino cash , a huge amount of money about seven million dollars , in route between between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.They touched the raw Vegas nerve with the wildest heist in history. The expert team challenged the syndicate boys in their own backyard.

A Spanish superproduction dealing with the wildest freak-out in Vegas history , including all-star-cast about a spectacular robbing on an armored truck . Being based on a novel titled The men of Las Vegas written by French author called Andre Lay , and being exhibited within a year of the book was published. The main cast is top-notch with the most famous actors by the time as Gary Lockwood, Jack Palance, Lee J Cobb and Elke Sommer . Support cast is pretty good , plenty of familiar Spanish faces as Gustavo Re , Enrique Ávila, Daniel Martín , Fernando Hilbeck , Jorge Rigaud , Ruben Rojo , Luis Barboo, Antonio Casas , Carlos Ballesteros, among others.And brief intervention from Roger Hanin , Georges Geret and Jean Servais.

Colorful cinematography by Juan Gelpi , shot on gorgeous locations , though the Nevada desert was actually shot in desert of Tabernas, Andalucia, where during the sixties and seventies had been filmed lots of Spaghetti Paella Westerns.Evocative and catching musical score by George Garvarentz in the sixties style . The motion picture was professionally directed by Antonio Isasi Isasmendi. Recently deceased Antonio was a craftsman who made a lot of successful films.As he directed El Perro ,Un Verano Para Matar , Monstruos Del Terror , Mask Scaramouche and his greatest hit was Istanbul 65. He directed great International stars as Karl Malden , Olivia Hussey , Jack Palance, Jason Miller , Lea Massari , Gary Lockwood ,and Lee J Cobb

I saw this movie as a child and still remember it. It has one of those plots that's so interesting that you don't forget it. It reminds me of "Sudden Fury"(Canadian) and "Loophole" (UK). Wish they'd bring it out on DVD. I remember Elke Summer and Lee J. Cobb in it. Didn't recall Jack Palance at all. The movie is very believable and the plot and motives of the characters interesting. At one point it seems the whole thing has reached a stalemate and you didn't have a sense of what direction the plot is going to take which was right down my street. Hate those movies where you can guess how the plot will play out and it does just that. If you want a movie with an unpredictable and interesting plot this is it.

I can remember watching this film when it came out and it has been one of my favourites ever since.

The atmosphere is slow but that is the correct pace as the relationship between Tony and Ann is explored as well as her relationship with Skorsky. Also, the tension between the thieves is very real especially as things don't go exactly to plan. Cooper is an idiot but there is always one in every gang and it sometimes doesn`t show up until they are put into a stress related situation.

There are two plots going through the film. Firstly we have Skorsky (played superbly by Cobb,) moving money for the Mob and wanting out and secondly we have Tony planning to steal one of Skorsky`s trucks. Tony doesn't realise what he is going to find when he finally gets inside the truck. Also, the treasury department are after Skorsky for his financial dealings and we have them just one step behind him all throughout the film.

There are some excellent moments of complete realism, the killing in the casino and the scant regard for life that the gang has as they murder a passer by in the dessert `Just in case'. Tony's instruction to end this unfortunate person's life was simply `Chop him'.

I have just managed to obtain a CD of the music to this film by George Garvarentz via Amazon. I wish the video of the film was available, a widescreen version would be very collectable. Especially if people knew that Gary Lockwood`s (Tony,) previous film had been 2001.

This is an average to above-average heist film that is helped immeasurably by the lovely Elke Sommer's presence. Once again, she wasn't able to do much with her character, beside being eye candy. Gary Lockwood is staid, Lee J. Cobb gruff, and Jack Palance wired tight as we have come to expect.

A 6 out of 10. Best performance = Elke Sommer. These late 60's crime pics were churned out ad nauseum, but the criminals' plan itself is fairly interesting. Elke adds a measure of class with her beauty and poise that helps it plug along. I remember seeing this at the drive-in on a double bill with THE WILD BUNCH.

Steve Skorsky (Lee J. Cobb) has a fleet of specially-designed impenetrable armored trucks. Blackjack dealer Tony Ferris (Gary Lockwood) and his girlfriend Ann Bennett (Elke Sommer) work their scam stealing from the casino. She works for the transport company while he's tracking the scheduled shipment from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. They and their fellow criminals plan to take down one of the trucks. Douglas (Jack Palance) is a Treasury agent.

The gang needs fewer members and the other members need more screen time. An Oceans movie would have fun with each member of the gang. In this one, only Tony and Ann are interesting and given enough screen time. The truck looks a little silly but I'm willing to live with that. I get the idea of a 60's futurist vehicle. The same goes for the Skorsky headquarters. They are basically robbing a Winnebago dressed up with some pretend cladding. The other issue about the heist is the desert location. I hoped for a high speed road chase. This is less compelling. It really needs a high speed car chase to inject kinetic energy. The heist gets a bit static after the underground hideout. This is a fine caper flick but it's not the best.